Best picks by team of the S64 Draft

[Bayley 419]

 

With the Season 64 VHL Draft in the books, it was a draft that had a ton of drama going into it. There was drama from who would be the top pick in the draft to where would all the goalies fall. Brick Wahl, Finn Davison, and Divanni Sohva were three people that would have been an easy first round pick if they were not a goalie. However, with all three staying put, there was a little more drama and confusion around them. Now, I will look at who I think will be the best pick by team. This is not meant to down any player or think they will not be good, but I need to choose one, so these are who I would choose. 

 

 Calgary Wranglers

Best Pick: G Brick Wahl (2nd Round, 12th Overall)

 

This was a really tough decision, but I am going to go with the Goaltender, Brick Wahl. Mark Gebauer will be a fantastic prospect for the Wranglers without question, but I think with Wahl getting the start in net sooner than later, that they will be best setup for success. The Wranglers currently have a host of forwards ahead of Gebauer right now. They have guys like Revchenko, Canmore, and McKnight which means that Gebauer will likely be on the second line. That is not bad at all, but I think that Wahl will have more of a chance to shine with more playing time compared to Gebauer. With Shawn Brodeur only 20 TPE ahead, Wahl will be in net a lot in the rookie season, meaning more chance for better statistics. I see Brick Wahl drafted in the second round will be the best pick. 

 

 HC Davos

Best Pick: LW Elias Dahlberg (1st Round, 2nd Overall)

 

For Davos, I was between the picks of Piotr Jerwa and Elias Dahlberg, but I ended up picking Dahlberg. With Davos in a bit of a rebuild, Dahlberg will be at the forefront of the offense. I would assume that Davos will go with a first line of Jose Gonzalez, Elias Sobeck, and Elias Dahlberg. Considering that Dahlberg will be the 2nd best scorer on team behind Sobeck, there will be a lot of leaning on him to score. This will put him in the best chance to be successful. I see Jerwa having a tough season in the plus/minus department given the state of the team, so that will limit his view of a "successful" season. I think both of these guys will be amazing, but I had to pick one that is in a better spot, I will choose Dahlberg for that. 

 

 New York Americans 

Best Pick: D Ryan Sullivan Jr. (1st Round, 1st Overall)

 

Well, if you pick first overall, this should be the best pick, and it will be. Sullivan Jr. was pretty much the consensus first overall pick for the entire season. There is no doubt that he will be the best pick from the Americans. Now, Joel Ylonen that they took with the 3rd overall pick will be an awesome selection as well. Ylonen will have to be behind Season 63 draftee Scott Shawinganen, so therefore he will be on the second line. When you look at a top pairing of Joseph McWolf and Ryan Sullivan Jr, that is absolutely great. This team is not very deep considering that they have 4 forwards and 2 defenseman currently on the roster, but all of the players are solid. I am curious to see how the lack of depth will impact them. They all have over 242+ TPE as well with the highest being McWolf at 544. They may need another season or so, but it's a great start. 

 

 Quebec City Meute 

Best Pick: RW Pat Svoboda (1st Round, 5th Overall)

 

When you look at what the Meute brought in, they also brought in Jagger Philliefan, Nathan N, Evgeni Komarov, and William Karlsson which will find a little bit of time in the minors. Therefore, the only guy that they have confidence in making up on the big squad is Pat Svoboda. The Meute only have 1 RW on the roster orther than Svoboda which is none other than S63 Draftee Jorgon Weyed. Weyed definitely continues to get better, so Svoboda will find a home on the second line considering Louth, Harding, and Dragomir are likely not going anywhere anytime soon as well considering Harding is the oldest of that bunch, drafted in the S61 draft. What can you expect from Svoboda? You can expect a guy that is a scorer, that is what you can expect. He is not a great passer, he is a decent defender, but he can score at a high level. It will be interesting to see where he will fit with guys like Dragomir, Harding, and Louth who are also scorers. There's no doubt that he will be the best pick of the bunch. 

 

 Riga Reign 

Best Pick: LW Kyson Blake (1st Round, 8th Overall)

 

All of the picks for Riga will be back in the minors for this upcoming season as there is no one that is over 199 TPE. Now, I will say that I think Blake is going to be best of the people that they selected in the draft. It seems like everyone wants to be a scorer, this is what Blake will be. For Saskatoon, he played in 72 games with 19 goals and 21 assists. However, when you look at his build, he wants to be a scorer. Blake has many weaknesses like physicality and defense, things that this guy will need at the next level in the VHL. If he wants to be a top line or even top 6, you want to get someone that will improve on their defense. I get wanting to score, but you need to defend just as much. He has a lot to learn, but I do think he will be the most successful of the draftees. 

 

 Seattle Bears 

Best Pick: Gucci Garrop (2nd Round, 14th Overall)

 

With Seattle only having 2 picks in this draft, the second and 4th round, the best pick of them two is going to be Gucci Garrop. Garrop is active including having an update last week with his 24 TPE banked, his is going to be a good pick at this point in the draft. Looking at his build, I really see a lot of value in this guy. He is someone that is a great skater and good defender as those two are what he focused on. Does this translate into the VHL? I certainly think it does. This guy could easily end up being a middle line guy with huge potential to get into the top 6. He has a lot to learn as he will spend time in the minors, but I could see Seattle calling him up next season. He could be a great defender to put on the 2nd or third line to stop some of the scorers that the other teams may try to sport. 

 

 Toronto Legion 

Best Pick: Not participating

 

Toronto did not want to participate in the draft, so they do not get the best pick!

 

 Helsinki Titans 

Best Pick: G Divaani Sohva (4th Round, 27th Overall)

 

Sohva definitely did update last week, so to get an active guy in the 4th round is quite the steal. Now, I can see him spending one or two seasons down in the minors before making it up to the VHL, but again the issue of too many goalies hurts. I could see Sohva being a great backup for Alexander Pepper or even a second line in case Pepper goes inactive (which I doubt happens). I would say that Sohva is really just the best available player. I see Sohva being great down in the minors with potential to be a role-player for a team in the VHL. It is a good pick to get Sohva here, there is no question about that. 

 

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